On March 29, 2020, following the passage of the CARES Act, the SBA provided small business owners and non-profits impacted by COVID-19 with the opportunity to obtain up to a $10,000 Advance on their Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL). The Advance is available as part of the full EIDL application and will be transferred into the account you provide shortly after your application is submitted. To ensure that the greatest number of applicants can receive assistance during this challenging time, the amount of your Advance will be determined by the number of your pre-disaster (i.e., as of January 31, 2020) employees. The Advance will provide $1,000 per employee up to a maximum of $10,000.

You may be eligible for another loan program, the Paycheck Protection Program, which is available through participating lenders.

Information on available resources may be found at www.sba.gov/coronavirus. For more information on these services, please go to www.sba.gov/local-assistance to locate the email address and phone number for the nearest SBA district office and/or SBA's resource partners.

Members of the

Chambers of the Alleghenies

Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Huntingdon and Somerset Counties

are invited to a ZOOM Meeting with the

US Chamber of Commerce.

Thursday, April 16th - 1:00 p.m.

This event will provide information about the CARES Act and loan/assistance information for small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Relief (EIDL.) Q&A will be available as well.

As the economic pause caused by coronavirus endures, businesses are racing to understand and access the $350 billion in loans provided by the CARES Act to help impacted small businesses. Emergency loans are newly available to sole proprietors, and new guidance accompanies this relief. Estimates indicate the total amount of aid isn’t enough to address current needs, and Congress is considering extending more funds to small businesses.

Friday, April 17 at noon ET, Inc. and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will team up for a fourth virtual National Small Business Town Hall to help small business owners alike navigate the programs that are available to them. Click here to RSVP.

NSF is now accepting project pitches from small businesses to develop new technologies, products, processes, and services with the potential to impact the nation's and world's ability to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. Find more information here. If you need help

Yesterday, the U.S. Chamber launched its new “Path Forward” program focused on how the nation can return to work following the current crisis. You can learn more about this initiative in the letter they sent to all of their members. Additionally, they will be hosting a series of webinars, which you can sign up for by clicking here. You can view a recording of yesterday’s kickoff webinar by clicking here.

This no-cost webinar is designed to provide our small business clients with answers to help you understand who is eligible for an SBA Emergency loan and what you need to have in hand before filing your application. This webinar will also help you understand realistic timelines for approval/closing on your loan, and will provide you with guides to help you estimate your economic loss to SBA.

The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering designated states and territories low-interest federal disaster loans of up to $2 million for working capital to small businesses suffering substantial economic injury as a result of COVID-19. The interest rate is 3.75% for small businesses. The interest rate for non-profits is 2.75%.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act has allocated $350 billion to help small businesses keep workers employed amid the pandemic and economic downturn. Known as the Paycheck Protection Program, the initiative provides 100% federally guaranteed loans to eligible small businesses during this time.